Epic tantrum and mice in clogs

So far so good.  Although Missy has only had one day back at school this week, yesterday we had a hospital appointment an hour away from home so it meant she was off school.

Previously, Missy hasn't wanted to talk to me straight after school and has been Miss Attitude.  But on Monday morning she declared that she was going to tell me all about school when she got home.  And she did.  She was fine - still full on attention-seeking - but no attitude.  Hurrah!  Her teacher also now includes a Home School Diary in her bag, outlining what she's done during the day.

I was a little concerned to see they had read Hansel & Gretel, about a bad mother who sends who children away into the woods.  Probably not the best choice of book to read to a class which includes a little girl who no longer lives with her birth mum and may still wonder why she is living elsewhere.  In fact she made up a little story yesterday and one of the characters in the woods was the name of her birth mum who she described as fierce.  I'm not sure whether to point this out to her teacher or not.

Yesterday Missy was such a good girl at the hospital and as a treat I took her to M&S for lunch.  Big mistake. One of her issues that has reared up over the last month is food and she just cannot accept that adults have bigger portions.  She wolfed down her toastie whilst I munched on mine.  She then insisted she wanted all the cake and launched into a full on tantrum with red face, shouting, tears, when I gave her a third of the slice.  Nothing would placate her.  She screamed that she wouldn't eat it as it was so small (it wasn't).  As people around us were inevitably starting to look and no doubt thinking "bad parent, can't she control the child", I decided to wrap Missy's slice up in a serviette and take it home.  Not a good move.  Missy launched across the table with venom on her face and snatched the cake.  I took it back and decided it was time to go - without cake.  She launched across the table again and grabbed the cake again between her fingers.  It was like I was taking the only bit of food she'd had for days.  She had desperation on her face.  I had to carry her out and almost drag her to the car, alongside cries of "I hate you Mummy, you're a nasty Mummy".  A couple of ladies gave me a sympathetic smile, one of whom said "Ah, heard that before".  I didn't say a word all the way home whilst Missy sobbed in the back.   Back home, I sat down on the sofa and a grizzly Missy came over for a big hug.  Although I stayed calm and didn't raise my voice at all, I was still taken aback by her behaviour and heart was pounding for about an hour.

We calmed down by watching some children's songs on You Tube which I discovered a few days ago. She loves them, particularly "Windmill in old Amsterdam". The image of a mouse with clogs on is hilariously funny to Missy.

I had thought about not taking her to gymnastics as a consequence but she had really been looking forward to it and she needs something on which to focus her energy.  So we went and she loved it.  She needs to pay attention to the teacher a bit more, but I think this might be more to do with looking at the other groups who are more advanced than her rather than an attention-deficit issue.  The time also gave me some respite and one of my old clients was there too for the first time with her little one so it was a good chance to catch up.

Missy has since apologised several times for being a 'naughty girl' in M&S and for grabbing the cake.  Bless.

This morning was another good morning.  Still no tantrums about going to school and we showed Daddy the "Windmill in Amsterdam" video so hopefully he'll have an annoying earworm all day!  Haha.

In other news, I've had my hair cut.  I feel vaguely human again.